St Andrew's College received the Best College Award for 2015-16, instituted by the University of Mumbai with a cheque for Rs 50,000/-. This is a prestigious award, as the University of Mumbai has over 700 affiliated colleges. The award was presented on January 26, 2018 by the Vice Chancellor to the Principal, Dr Marie Fernandes. She was accompanied by the Rector, Fr Magi Murzello and members of the teaching and non-teaching staff.
St Andrew's College is the only college of the Archdiocese of Bombay, and Cardinal Oswald Gracias is the Chairperson. Fr Caesar D'Mello is the Managing Trustee, Fr Magi Murzello is the Rector, Msgr Nereus Rodrigues and Adv. Joaquim Reis are the other Trustees who help greatly with their wisdom and experience. The college offers BA, B.Com, BMS, BMM, B.Com (Accounts and Finance), B.Com (Banking and Insurance), B.Sc. (IT), B.Sc. (Hospitality Studies), M.Com. and a Ph.D. centre in English. Most of the new self-financing courses were introduced during the tenure of Principal A.D. Mascarenhas.
The college has grown steadily and has been accredited by NAAC with an 'A' Grade for two consecutive terms; each term is of five years. The college has great infrastructure with well equipped classrooms, computer laboratories, conference halls to make the teaching-learning process exciting and engaging. Field trips and visits to the National Stock Exchange, industrial units and other places of interest, form part of the routine activities that departments organise.
Research is an important component that raises the standard of an institution. The college organises at least three International or National Conferences every year. There are four research journals with ISSN numbers. There is also a student seminar and a student journal for research. Besides, there are other seminars and workshops organised by different departments. Students participate in Avishkar - the Research competition organised by the University of Mumbai. The college also has a Ph.D. Centre in English and the Principal is a recognised Ph.D. guide; six students have already finished their Ph.D. under her, and eight are registered. Several staff members have also completed Minor Research projects funded by the UGC and University. The college has a well-stocked library, with access to digital resources from the British Council, National Digital Library and Inflibnet. St Andrew's College has the UNESCO and Cardinal Paul Poupard Chair for Inter-Religious and Inter-Cultural Dialogue, and organises an International Conference every year with a host of different activities.
The college organises inter-collegiate activities in the auditorium; these include IN-Tune, the Music competition; Jhankaar - the folk dance competition; Olio - the drama competition and Aura - the BMS festival. Besides, these there are opportunities to participate in Mind Maze, the quiz competition and the Elocution and Debate Competitions. The Gender Cell also organises activities to empower women.
Besides engaging the students in the University of Mumbai programme of the NSS, the college has its own Value Education and Social Outreach programme. Students of the Second Year work with different NGOs to understand the suffering of the weak and marginalised. The Faith on Campus group enhances the spiritual quotient of our students and reaches out to the poor and oppressed.
The students do well in sports, and have the new turf ground to practise. Hockey and football are very popular with the boys and girls. The college has a well-equipped gym and facilities for indoor games as well. The Internal Quality Assessment Committee, which has representatives from the local community and experts from industry, meets regularly to raise the benchmark and find ways of improving the quality of education. Regular meetings with members of the Student Council help to address issues that students face, and to implement suggestions that they might have. Internal and External Academic audits and Student Feedback of faculty are ways of identifying shortcomings and working to improve them. With the blessings of God and a team of dedicated staff , both teaching and non-teaching, wonderful students and a supportive Management, the college was able to get the Best College Award. We hope this is the first of many more awards for the college.